Oceania Rugby Women's Championship

Oceania Rugby Women’s Championship is an international women's rugby union competition contested by women's national teams from Oceania.[1]

Oceania Rugby Women's Championship

Sport	Rugby union
Founded	2016
No. of teams	4
Country	Fiji  Papua New Guinea  Samoa  Tonga

History

Champions

Year	Host • Teams		Final placings
Oceania Championship			Winner	Runner-up	Third	Fourth
2016	Suva	2	Fiji	Papua New Guinea	N/A	N/A
2018	Lautoka	4	Fiji	Samoa	Tonga	Papua New Guinea
2019	Lautoka	6	Black Ferns XV	Australia A	Fiji	Samoa

2016 Oceania Championship

Played in Suva as part of the 2017 Rugby World Cup qualifying process, the three teams initially nominated for the tournament were Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Samoa. With their long history of World Cup participation, Samoa seemed to be favourites to become the region's entry. However, in a surprise move, Oceania Rugby refused Samoa's participation on the same grounds as World Rugby had barred Kenya and Uganda from African regional qualification – the lack of a robust domestic women’s fifteens rugby tournament (almost all of Samoa’s squads in past years had come from players living and playing in New Zealand and Australia). As such, the championship was decided in a one-off match between the remaining two teams, with Fiji winning to advance to the Repechage tournament in Hong Kong.

Playoff match

Test no. 1161 2016-11-05 (WCQ)	Fiji	37-10	Papua New Guinea	ANZ National Stadium, Suva Referee: Alan Aioluptota (SAM)
	Lawedrau  19' Bulikiobo  33' Deku  53' Rokouono  62' Vakaloloma  78', 80+' Cons: Rokouono  53', 80+' Pens: Rokouono  11'	Report	Lagona  22' Kaore  48'

FB 15 Roela Radiniyavuni RW 14 Limaina Wai OC 13 Litiana Lawedrau IC 12 Talica Vodo LW 11 Paulini Ravouvou FH 10 Merewalesi Rokouono SH 9 Rejieli Uluinayau N8 8 Sereana Nagatalevu OF 7 Mere Moto BF 6 Joma Rubuti RL 5 Laisa Taga LL 4 Fuga Ofakimalino TP 3 Esiteri Bulikiobo HK 2 Pasemaca Buadromo LP 1 Lailanie Burnes (c) Replacements: 16 Vlisi Vakaloloma 17 Mereoni Yabakidrau 18 Jowana Vuni 19 Makereta Tunidau 20 Sainimere Naleweniikataga 21 Tavaita Rowati 22 Mereani Moceituba 23 Wainikiti Deku Coach: Seremaia Bai

FB 15 Joanne Lagona RW 14 Cassandra Sampson OC 13 Marlugu Dixon IC 12 Kymlie Rapilla LW 11 Nina Stein FH 10 Margaret Naua (c) SH 9 Victoria Kamen N8 8 Debbie Kaore OF 7 Lynette Kwarula BF 6 Melanie Kawa RL 5 Clara Biyamah LL 4 Isi Govea TP 3 Norah Wartovo HK 2 Jane Buku LP 1 Pamela Waringe Replacements: 16 Lorraine Pomat 17 Geua Larry 18 Tracy Stains 19 Harkana Dixon 20 Theresanne Daimol 21 Angela Parao 23 Augusta Livuana 24 Helen Abau Coach: Sydney Wesley

2018 Oceania Championship

Table

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	BP	Pts
1	Fiji	3	3	0	0	192	20	+172	3	15
2	Samoa	3	2	0	1	136	95	+41	2	10
3	Tonga	3	1	0	2	77	147	-70	1	5
4	Papua New Guinea	3	0	0	2	71	214	-143	2	2

Round 1

Test no. 1276 2018-11-16	Papua New Guinea	45–56	Samoa	Churchill Park, Lautoka
		Report

Test no. 1277 2018-11-16	Fiji	53–8	Tonga	Churchill Park, Lautoka
		Report

Round 2

Test no. 1284 2018-11-20	Samoa	68–7	Tonga	Churchill Park, Lautoka
		Report

Test no. 1285 2018-11-20	Fiji	96–0	Papua New Guinea	Churchill Park, Lautoka
		Report

Round 3

Test no. 1286 2018-11-24	Tonga	62–26	Papua New Guinea	Churchill Park, Lautoka

Test no. 1287 2018-11-24	Fiji	43–12	Samoa	Churchill Park, Lautoka
		Report

2019 Asia Pacific Championship

The tournament was held in Lautoka, Fiji as a single round-robin contested by Fiji, Samoa and Hong Kong. Samoa won both their matches to claim the title.[2]

Test: 1313	24 May 2019	Fiji	10–29	Hong Kong	Churchill Park, Lautoka
			Report [3]

Test: 1314	28 May 2019	Hong Kong	12–34	Samoa	Churchill Park, Lautoka
			Report [4]

Test: 1315	1 June 2019	Fiji	12–15	Samoa	Churchill Park, Lautoka
			Report [2]

2019 Oceania Championship

The 2019 championship, held in Fiji, was the 2021 Rugby World Cup qualifier for the Oceania region.[5] The tournament was played at Churchill Park in Lautoka from 18–30 November 2019, with six teams entered.[6] Australia and New Zealand sent development teams, having already qualified for the 2021 World Cup.[6]

• Pool A
•  Black Ferns Dev. XV
•  Samoa
•  Tonga

• Pool B
•  Australia A
•  Fiji
•  Papua New Guinea

A split pool format was used for the Oceania tournament, with the teams seeded into two pools of three. Each team was scheduled to play one match against each of the teams in the opposite pool.[7] However, following a measles outbreak in Tonga, the Tongan women's team had to withdraw from competition after one of their players arriving in Fiji was suspected of having measles.[8] The tournament continued without playing their fixtures but a revised qualification process was put in place to allow Tonga to challenge later for the Oceania berth at the Rugby World Cup repechage qualifier.[8]

The Black Ferns Development XV were undefeated in the tournament and won the 2019 Oceania Rugby Women's Championship [9] based on the combined pool standings, with Australia A as runner-up. Qualification to the World Cup remained up for grabs in Lautoka for the remaining three nations (excluding Australia and New Zealand). Fiji won direct entry to the World Cup by defeating Samoa in the qualifying playoff match.[10]

Arrangements were made for a playoff match in early 2020 between Tonga and Papua New Guinea, with the winner to meet Samoa in another playoff match to decide the World Cup repechage berth.[8]

Pool stage

Pool A

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Black Ferns Dev. XV	3	3	0	0	234	0	+234	15
2	Samoa	3	1	0	2	77	65	+12	5
3	Tonga	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2

Pool B

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Australia A	3	1	1	1	27	55	−28	7
2	Fiji	2	1	0	1	26	60	−34	5
3	Papua New Guinea	2	0	0	2	12	196	-184	0

Round 1

	18 November	Australia A	0–0 ^a	Tonga	Churchill Park, Lautoka
			Report [11]

Test: 1358	18 November	Samoa	65–12	Papua New Guinea	Churchill Park, Lautoka [29/5/4]
			Report [12]

	18 November	Black Ferns Dev XV	53–0	Fiji	Churchill Park, Lautoka
			Report [13]

Notes:

^^a The match was cancelled and called a draw.[11]

Round 2

	22 November	Australia A	0–50	Black Ferns Dev XV	Churchill Park, Lautoka
			Report [14]

Test: 1360	22 November	Samoa	7–26	Fiji	Churchill Park, Lautoka [28/11/4]
			Report [15]

Bye/s: Papua New Guinea

Round 3

	26 November	Black Ferns Dev XV	131–0	Papua New Guinea	Churchill Park, Lautoka
			Report [16]

	26 November	Australia A	27–5	Samoa	Churchill Park, Lautoka
			Report [17]

Bye/s: Fiji

Playoffs

Samoa and Fiji played in the World Cup qualifier match at Lautoka.[10] Due to Tonga's absence, a consolation match was arranged for Papua New Guinea against a Fiji developmental team.[10]

Consolation match

	30 November	Fijiana Dev XV	40–22	Papua New Guinea	Churchill Park, Lautoka
			Report [18]

World Cup qualifier

Test: 1365	30 November	to RWC      Fiji	41–13	Samoa	Churchill Park, Lautoka [12/29/5]
			Report [19]

Repechage qualifiers

Tonga traveled to Port Moresby in March the following year and defeated Papua New Guinea to set up a playoff against Samoa to determine who qualified for the repechage tournament.

Test:	1 March 2020	Papua New Guinea	24–36	Tonga	Bava Park, Port Moresby
			Report [20]

Test:	18 April 2020	to repechage Samoa	–	Tonga	Apia Park, Apia

See also

• Women's international rugby

References

1. Fiji and PNG set for historic qualifier
2. "Samoa win Asia Pacific". Scrum Queens. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019.
3. "Hong Kong win in Fiji". Scrum Queens. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019.
4. "Samoa shock Hong Kong at Asia Pacific". Scrum Queens. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019.
5. "World Rugby announces new Women's Rugby World Cup 2021 qualification pathway". World.Rugby. 5 April 2019. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019.
6. "Australia & New Zealand to feature at 2019 Oceania Rugby Women's Championship". Oceania Rugby. 2 October 2019. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019.
7. Birch, John (18 November 2019). "Samoa open qualifier with big win". Scrum Queens. Archived from the original on 24 March 2020.
8. "Oceania-qualification for women's Rugby World Cup revised". Loop. 24 November 2019. Archived from the original on 27 November 2019.
9. "Oceania Rugby Women's Championship 2019: trophy lift". World Rugby. November 2019. Archived from the original on 24 March 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
10. Birch, John (19 November 2019). "Fiji qualify for World Cup". Scrum Queens. Archived from the original on 10 February 2020.
11. greenwood, Emma (17 November 2019). "Oceania Rugby cancel Australia A-Tonga clash after suspected measles case". rugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
12. "Oceania Rugby Women's Championship 2019, Match 1". World.Rugby. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
13. "Oceania Rugby Women's Championship 2019, Match 3". World.Rugby. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
14. "Oceania Rugby Women's Championship 2019, Match 5". World.Rugby. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
15. "Oceania Rugby Women's Championship 2019, Match 5". World.Rugby. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
16. "Oceania Rugby Women's Championship 2019, Match 7". World.Rugby. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
17. "Oceania Rugby Women's Championship 2019, Match 8". World.Rugby. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
18. "Oceania Rugby Women's Championship 2019, Match 10". World.Rugby. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
19. "Oceania Rugby Women's Championship 2019, Match 11". World.Rugby. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
20. "Tonga defeat Papua New Guinea in 2021 Rugby World Cup qualifiying". Rugby.World.Cup. Retrieved 1 March 2020.